Lance Armstrong and Doping

Like most Americans, I have always been impressed by the achievements of Lance Armstrong and proud of the way he has represented America over the years.  He won seven Tour de France titles, more than any other bicyclist in the history of this prestigious race.  He managed to win despite the fact that he is a cancer survivor who suffered from testicular cancer that spread to his lungs and abdomen in 1996.  His experience with this disease inspired him to establish Livestrong, a foundation that supports other cancer patients.  Everything about the life Lance Armstrong has lived over the past fifteen years has been remarkable ... except for the fact that he may have been using performance enhancing drugs in order to achieve his extradinary success.

It is heart-breaking to learn that his success may be tainted by his suspected use of testosterone, EPO, cortisone, HGH, blood transfusions and other forbidden drugs.  This is one of those times when we all want to scream, "Say it isn't so."  Although Lance Armstrong has made the decision to stop fighting the accusations, he still insists that he is not guilty.  He has passed hundreds of drug tests over the years, and points to them as evidence that he is telling the truth.  He asserts that his negative drug tests show that the USADA has "zero physical evidence" to support their accusations.  In addition, he had the backing of the International Cycling Union in fighting the charges against him.  However, rather than continue to fight and face his accusers, Lance Armstrong has chosen to back down.  He said he was simply tired of fighting the accusations any longer and that the USADA was running a "witch hunt."

However, if Lance Armstrong is telling the truth, then the ten former teammates and friends who testified about his illegal doping to the USADA must be lying, and there is no reason why they would all do this.  One of his former teammates was Floyd Landis who lost his 2006 Tour de France title after he had a positive drug test. Another is Tyler Hamilton who admitted doping.  Perhaps there is some legal benefit to them if they implicate Lance Armstrong in their activities, although there is no indication that this is so.

Once Lance Armstrong gave up the fight, the USADA treated his decision as an admission of guilt.  Because of the scandal, Lance Armstrong has been stripped of all seven of his Tour de France titles.  He has also been banned from competitive cycling for the rest of his life.

Lance Armstrong insists that he is at peace with his decision to stop fighting his accusors.  He continues to work to raise money to help cancer patients and insists that he is innocent.  However, someone is lying.  Personally, I want to believe in Lance Armstrong.  After all, it's hard not to admire the guy!  On the other hand, his accusors are very believable, as well.

If you have an opinion on this case, you are welcome to share them in the comments section.

You may also be interested in reading:

Why We Lie and Cheat
Politics and Lies
Online Dating Scams

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Photo courtesy of http://www.wikipedia.org/commons